


Love is a Smoke Made with the Fume of Sighs

by IHaveNoClueWhatImDoing



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Mention of Minor Character Death, Other, Romeo appreciation day, his mom is a Bowery Beauty, romeo wants to be a newsie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 20:40:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15081293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IHaveNoClueWhatImDoing/pseuds/IHaveNoClueWhatImDoing
Summary: (For Romeo appreciation day!)Romeo’s mother is a Bowery Beauty and he spends all his time at the theater, but one day after school he hears a red hair newsie hawk a headline about a fire in one of the theaters.





	Love is a Smoke Made with the Fume of Sighs

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, especially on ao3 and what better to start with then my son Romeo?  
> Please feel free to leave any critiques or just if you liked it, I know it’s short. Anyway, enjoy!

Romeo sat in the Bowery theater with his legs crossed and a wooden toy car in front of him. Miss Medda had allowed him to stay during rehearsals as long as he promised to be on his best behavior and not cause any problems. During the time Romeo spent in the theater he noticed that Miss Medda had a liking to kids, or at least not a disliking for them. He’d mainly seen two boys, both wearing newsies caps. One always had a cigar in his mouth and the other seemed to never shut up about the desert. Needless to say they confused Romeo, who was probably only a few years younger. 

His short attention span kept him from playing with his car or watching the rehearsal for too long as he thought about what it would be like to be one of those tough newsies. Not only had he seen them in the theater but also on the street when walking home with his mom. They seemed like they always had a story to say, and Romeo just wanted to hear them. Plus they made money! What would a six year old Romeo do with money? He wasn’t quite sure but he still wanted it. 

Romeo’s attention changed again as he was snapped out of his thoughts by his mother walking on to the stage. She was a Bowery Beauty and had the most beautiful voice. She was the one to nickname him Romeo, since he spent so much time in the theater with her when he wasn’t in school. Her voice rang through the theater in one of Romeo’s favorite songs, one of the songs she’d sing to him to help him sleep during storms. When she was done he couldn’t contain himself. With a goofy grin that showed off the gap between his teeth, he stood up and ran towards her on stage, abandoning his toy car. The other Bowery Beauties giggled as he jumped into her arms.  
“Mama that was awesome!” He declared and received a stern look from Medda before it turned into a smile. She didn’t like him disturbing the rehearsals but the kid was cute and clearly proud of his mom. The child clung to the women that resembled him, her warm brown eyes focused on holding her son. She could finally provide for him and give him what he needed.  
+  
Romeo was now eight, and his mother still had a job at the Bowery with Miss Medda Larkin and the rest of the Bowery Beauties. He still spent his day at school but now he could walk by himself to the theater instead of waiting for his mother to get him while she was on break. 

He passed by a newsie who was yelling something about a fire in a theater. Romeo didn’t pay much attention to the headline because the newsies hair was a fiery red. He looked beyond the newsie and saw smoke, with a frown he kept walking in that direction anyway, sure that it was one of the buildings past the Bowery and it shouldn’t interrupt his walk. Besides how else would his mom know he was okay if he didn’t get to the theater? 

As he walked closer to the theater the fire also looked nearer. A few people were hurrying past him in the opposite direction and one women even stopped him to tell him not to go in that direction, that one of the theaters were on fire and it was too dangerous for little boys. Hearing again the news that a theater was on fire grew a bubble of anxiety in his stomach. What if it was the Bowery? 

So now Romeo was running through the streets of New York, his school bag hitting the people behind him as he shoved past. He could see the flames towering over other buildings, he could hear the sirens wailing, and the smoke made it hard to breathe well. All his fears were proven true, the Bowery Theater was on fire. He recognized a few of the Beauties who were standing outside the theater, coughing. Some of them even had to be taken to the hospital because of burns. Romeo couldn’t spot his mother anywhere though. 

In his daze of confusion a women put her hand on his shoulder, when he turned it was Miss Medda Larkin herself. She had a somber expression and led him away from the commotion. There were tears in her eyes but why wouldn’t there be, that was her theater burning to the ground. Still Romeo didn’t want to be led away from the fire, he wanted to find his mom and hug her. He wanted her to sing to him and tell him that within a few weeks the theater will be up and running again.

“No, wait, Miss Medda! I need to find my mom!” All he received was a pitiful look. One that no child wanted to receive after a tragedy. That was the look parents gave you before telling you your dog got hit by a car or the family hamster is stuck in the wall. 

“Romeo, love, she’s not going to come out of the theater. She died doing what she loved, I know this is hard but I can get you a place in the Newsies Lodging house for now.” Romeo barely processed her words. He’d have a place to stay, yes, but he no longer had a mom. Tears welled in his eyes and he started to sob as Medda pulled him into a hug. He’d get to meet those newsies he dreamed of, but at what cost?


End file.
